KARACHI: The chairperson of the Health Oriented Preventive Education (HOPE), Mubina Cassum Aboatwala, was arrested and sent to prison on judicial remand in connection with a child trafficking case, following the dismissal of her pre-arrest bail plea by a court.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) apprehended Aboatwala after receiving a complaint from US authorities, alleging her involvement in trafficking minors for financial gain. The charges against her fall under several sections of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018, as amended in 2025.

On Tuesday, the judicial magistrate (South) rejected the FIA’s request for Aboatwala’s physical custody, instead opting for judicial remand. The case has raised significant concerns regarding the operations of HOPE, a non-governmental organization.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), the US Consulate General lodged a complaint on September 15, 2023, highlighting discrepancies in three adoption visa cases. The investigation revealed that the centers mentioned had no records of the children involved.

The Fraud Prevention Unit contacted the social welfare department, which confirmed that HOPE was not registered as an orphanage and lacked provisions for child adoption in its constitution.

The FIA’s inquiry further discovered that HOPE had transferred custody of “abandoned babies” to families abroad, based on court orders that were acquired through identical applications. The agency noted the NGO’s failure to provide evidence supporting the origins of these children.